Bayern boss Louis van Gaal and his wife Truus have been together for 15 years. They have had plenty to celebrate together too, in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Alkmaar - and now Munich, after a double-winning first season in Bavaria. In part one of our interview with Truus van Gaal, fcbayern.de asked about a shared taste in wine, her husband's character, and Bayern's part in them becoming a couple.

Interview: Truus van Gaal.

fcbayern.de: Your husband likes a glass of Spanish red wine. Are you a Rioja fan?Truus van Gaal: "Yes, we happen to have the same taste and drink a small glass every day. When we were with Barcelona, we met club President Núñez every week for dinner. That's when we grew to know and love Rioja. Nowadays, we also enjoy Austrian and German wines too: Riesling and some very good red wines. But we're not fond of French wines."

fcbayern.de: Everyone at Bayern has come to know Louis van Gaal as a dominant personality. Is that what he's like at home?Truus van Gaal: "Yes, he is, or at least he tries to be. But Louis also expects people to stand up to him and not just agree with everything he says."

fcbayern.de: What do you value about your husband?Truus van Gaal: "Louis is an honest man. In fact, I don't know anyone in the world who's as honest as him. He's also very emotional and a little naïve, he believes everything he hears. Sometimes I say to him: Hey Louis, do you really believe that? I think it's typical male versus female. He sometimes asks me: Why are you so suspicious? So I tell him: that's the way it is, I trust my feelings."

fcbayern.de: What do you do after Louis gets home from work?Truus van Gaal: "We like spending time together and often travel. We love life, and enjoy having dinner with family and friends. But we do like an occasional evening at home together. We watch TV or read the papers, and as you'd expect, we spend a lot of time dealing with e-mail from all over the world. I'm a secretary of sorts for Louis, although he has to tell me what to write, as we don't always think along the same lines."

fcbayern.de: Does your husband talk about work when he's at home?Truus van Gaal: "Not much. I often ask him: how were things at Bayern today? And he'll say: training was rubbish. Or: training was good. Or: one of the players got injured. I often find out more from his assistants than from him, and I obviously read the papers too. But he can get very angry when I ask about things I've heard. How do you know that? What's it got to do with you, he'll say. Louis never talks about what goes on in the dressing room. He considers team matters to be entirely private."

fcbayern.de: Does he at least talk a little about matches?Truus van Gaal: "Sometimes I'll say: this or that player was good today. And he'll say: he was the worst player on the park! We watch lots of games together. We'll be sitting in front of the TV, and he'll say: See what happened there? But I'm not really interested in the tactical details. With me, it goes in one ear and out the other. But I basically love football, and watch lots of games even if Louis isn't there."

fcbayern.de: When did you get to know him?Truus van Gaal: "At the 1994 World Cup in the USA. I was working in public relations for a Dutch insurance company and hired Louis as a speaker. We worked well together, and you could tell there was something to it. But that was just after his first wife Fernanda passed away, and I'd been divorced for four years. So he said, maybe we could meet up again, I'll invite you to watch Ajax. So I replied: I don't know if I'll accept, because my club is Feyenoord in Rotterdam. So he said: I'll invite you to a Champions League fixture, so you'll see some decent football for a change. I was a bit angry: what an arrogant man, I thought. Anyway, he asked me to Ajax against Bayern in Amsterdam. Ajax won 5-2 [on 19 April 1995]. We met up afterwards and he said: Well, did you enjoy it at all? The football's better than in Rotterdam, isn't it? We were together by the end of the year. So Bayern played a role in our relationship right from the start. I think it's great that we're at Bayern now."

BayernForum.com is an official fan club of FC Bayern Munich.
The views and opinions expressed within this site are those of the specified authors.
Externally linked content is the property of the relevant copyright holder.